Shanahan grilled by Philly press

Thursday

The Washington Redskins head coach faced a barrage of questions concerning Donovan McNabb from the Philadelphia media during a conference call at the

NovaCare Complex on Thursday.

The questions concerning Shanahan’s benching of McNabb during the final two-minutes of the Redskins’ 37-25 loss to the Detroit Lions on Oct. 31 came fast and furious until finally Shanahan had to put a stop to it.

“Let’s go on to something else,’’ Shanahan said.

Although Shanahan has wanted to move on from the McNabb benching ever since it happened, it hasn’t gone away.

Shanahan benched McNabb in favor of backup Rex Grossman. He initially said that McNabb was benched because he didn’t have a full understanding of the Redskins two-minute drill.

He then flip-flopped, saying McNabb was benched because he had hamstring issues and hadn’t practiced the two-minute drill. On Thursday Shanahan said he wished he had handled the situation differently.

“You would always probably clarify things a little bit more the second time around,’’ Shanahan said. “But it’s over with and you move on.’’

Shanahan also went on to say that if the Redskins find themselves in a hurry-up situation against the Eagles on Monday he probably would make a different decision.

“Having off last week really helped him,’’ Shanahan said. “He’s improving day by day. By no means is he 100 percent. He’s still getting treatment but by the end of the week we’ll find out how he is.’’

Learning the Redskins offense, including the two-minute drill, obviously took McNabb some time, considering he had spent his entire career directing Andy’s Reid’s West Coast Offense.

Shanahan didn’t say for sure if McNabb was having trouble learning the Redskins two-minute drill Thursday but was confident he would have a full understanding of it soon enough.

Shanahan admitted that the Redskins don’t practice the two-minute drill each week and that before the Lions game they did not practice the drill.

“I think any time that you don’t practice something for a while it’s always a little tougher,” Shanahan said. “It’s like learning a new language. If you come in and you learn a new language, and you don’t get a chance to practice it at all, sometimes it’ll be a little tougher but I think he’ll be fine.’’

McNabb was traded to the Redskins from the Eagles on Easter Sunday. When he arrived in D.C. it seemed for sure that he would be the Redskins quarterback for years to come. Despite the controversy, Shanahan still thinks McNabb is the